Bill Maher to perform at Peace Center

Sunday

Feb 16, 2014 at 12:01 AM

Bill Maher is so distressed with what passes for pop culture these days that nothing surprises him anymore.

By DAN ARMONAITISdan.armonaitis@shj.com

Bill Maher is so distressed with what passes for pop culture these days that nothing surprises him anymore.“You can't really go down from a society that has the Kardashians on the air every night,” Maher said after news reports began circulating about a “celebrity boxing match” between rapper DMX and George Zimmerman, the Florida man who was acquitted last year in the controversial Trayvon Martin murder trial.Upon hearing of the proposed bout for the first time, Maher literally spelled out the letters “O-M-G” before adding, with a cynical laugh, “Well, I'm sure there's no racial tension there.”The highly opinionated comedian and host of the politically charged HBO television series “Real Time with Bill Maher” then offered his analysis of the matchup, which has since been canceled by the promoter.“I've got to say, when I look at the two up against each other, I think DMX has an advantage in height,” Maher said. “I think he's got an advantage in weight. I think he's got an advantage in reach. But Zimmerman's got a Glock, so I'm going to have to go with Zimmerman.”Love him or hate him — and there's no denying that he can be a polarizing figure when it comes to politics and religion — Maher cannot be accused of not knowing how to deliver a zinger with near-perfect comedic timing.Maher will display that talent at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Peace Center for the Performing Arts in Greenville, where he'll perform a standup comedy show. Tickets are $55-$65 and can be purchased by calling 800-888-7768. For more information, visit www.peacecenter.org.Maher, whose audiences tend to be politically liberal, said that he always enjoys coming to Republican strongholds such as South Carolina.“I find a level of enthusiasm when I go to the 'red states' that I never find anywhere else, because I think people in those states, first of all, don't expect someone like me to even come to their states,” Maher said. “And I think they're gratified that I don't write off the whole state as a bunch of rednecks.”South Carolina hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976 ,and only one of its nine current U.S. congressional delegates isn't a Republican, but Maher said that such imbalance doesn't reflect the political diversity of the state's 4.6 million residents.

“I've traveled too much in this country, and I know better,” Maher said. “I know that everywhere you go in America, no matter how conservative (the state) is, there are always thousands of intelligent, very forward-thinking people marbled into the population.“And when I come to town, it's great that they're able to all come out and sit in the theater and laugh. And not just laugh, but look around and realize, 'Wow, there are actually a lot of people around here who think like me.' ”Maher said that he doesn't believe Republican political dominance in states such as South Carolina will continue forever, and he offered encouragement to people with more progressive and liberal views than their representatives.“I would say hang in there, brother, because you know what, change is a-comin',” Maher said. “Even in the reddest of red districts, change is coming.”That change will come, he said, because the conservative-leaning Republican Party base is aging.“I don't wish them dead, but you know what, in some ways, a lot of our social problems will only be solved when people die,” Maher said. “All the people who think that gay marriage is wrong because of the Bible — well, at some point, they're just going to drift away. All the people who rule their lives by religious superstition, they're kind of going away.”Maher, a self-professed atheist, is the producer of “Religulous,” a 2008 mockumentary in which he took a swipe at organized religion. On the Emmy-nominated “Real Time,” he has been critical of Christian institutions such as Bob Jones University in Greenville.“I remember, once, we did an editorial saying that these colleges that teach that evolution isn't real should not be accredited as colleges,” Maher said. “I mean, you can call yourself a church if you'd like to. You can call yourself 'where like-minded people meet.' But you can't really call yourself an institution of higher learning if you're anti-learning and anti-science.”According to information on Bob Jones University's official website, the school does educate its students about a variety of scientific theories, including evolution, but a statement on the site says, “While claims which contradict Scripture cannot be true, it is our aim to help our students understand the worldview and the flawed logic behind these truth claims and to articulate a thoroughly biblical response.”For more than two decades, Maher has been pushing the boundaries of how far comedy-laced political talk can go on American television. Before “Real Time,” he was the host of “Politically Incorrect,” which debuted on Comedy Central in 1993 before moving to ABC in 1997. ABC canceled it in 2002.

For Maher, who was born and raised in New Jersey and now lives in Los Angeles, getting people to engage in conversation about current events is as important as getting them to laugh.“I think my brand of comedy comes from my upbringing,” he said. “My father was a newsman. He was in radio news in the days when every radio station had news at the top of the hour, every hour. So, news was always something that was talked about in my house. ... And we were also a family that liked to laugh.“My father was very funny, and I think the combination of news and funny was just always something that was in my blood.”Maher referred to Gov. Nikki Haley as “the one who said that health care might work in Massachusetts, but it wouldn't work here in South Carolina,” a comment he said always made him think, “Why? Do people not have gall bladders in South Carolina? Aren't our health care needs the same from state to state?”He then added with a laugh, “What kind of insane idea is that — that people's health needs are different from state to state?”Haley spokesman Doug Mayer responded to Maher's comments about the governor via email.“Anyone who knows the first thing about health care and insurance understands that what works for one state might not work in the next,” Mayer wrote. “That is just basic common sense, unless, of course, you're Bill Maher.“The last time Gov. Haley cared about what Bill Maher thought was when she watched his show, which, like most South Carolinians, was never.”Tony Keck, director of health and human services for Gov. Haley, denied that the governor made the specific comment that Maher attributed to her.“What she said is that what works to improve health in South Carolina is going to be different than what works to improve health in Massachusetts,” Keck said.

Keck added, “If you believe the public health research — and I guess I don't expect a comedian to be familiar with it — you have to recognize that the biggest reasons that there are really serious health differences between all of the states is because the states have very different levels of educational attainment, different levels of income, different social support in terms of the number of families that are headed by a single parent versus two parents, and so on.”Maher said that he was particularly amused by Republican criticism of the website problems that complicated the rollout of the insurance exchanges that are essential to the success of the Affordable Care Act.“I love the way they're so angry that the website wasn't working,” he said. “You know, they are just irate and purple with rage that the thing that they did not want to work is not working.”So, what does Maher attribute to the anger that has been directed at President Obama, particularly from Tea Party activists, since the president took office in 2009?“Well, I would say because he's black,” Maher said with a chuckle.He then stated that Obama's record on several issues was favorable toward principles that right-wing politicians like to espouse.“It's almost their wish list, but they don't even know it,” Maher said. “I mean, the Tea Party – a party named after a tax revolt, a party whose letters stand for 'taxed enough already' – you'd think that they would know that Obama has lowered the taxes on 98 percent of the American people. But they don't. They think he's raised their taxes.”Maher said that Obama has also slashed the number of government workers and that the stock market has doubled during the president's administration.“All these things that they wanted to have happen (have) happened under Obama, but they still hate him,” Maher said.He then added in a half-laughing, half-mocking tone, “What could it be? Why do they hate him? I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's because he's skinny.”

Maher dismissed the notion that such actions as last year's appointment of an African-American, Tim Scott, as the replacement for former S.C. Sen. Jim DeMint absolved the Republican Party from charges of racism.“They're not above going for some token black representation as long as the black person agrees with everything they say, including that the biggest problem with racism nowadays is reverse racism,” Maher said.State GOP chairman Matt Moore responded to Maher's comments via email.“As Sen. Scott said in regards to the NAACP leader who insulted him recently, this is simply baseless rhetoric from people who have never met him,” Moore wrote. “Maybe Bill Maher doesn't like Sen. Scott's efforts to provide a better education for our kids or more opportunities for those seeking work by improving our job training programs.“Either way, what's clear is liberals are afraid of an American who passionately articulates conservative ideals and just so happens to be black.”During Saturday's performance at the Peace Center, Maher will likely bring up the “flip a district” campaign that his television program, “Real Time,” recently announced.“We're looking for one congressperson, who's, let's just say, a lemon, and who people would like to unseat,” Maher said with a laugh. “A lot of these people are in there because of gerrymandering, and so I'm looking very carefully at all the local races.”Maher said that he still performs standup comedy shows across the country not out of necessity but because he genuinely enjoys it.“There's nothing I love more than the two hours when I'm on stage,” he said.“Sometimes, you're dead tired because you've worked the whole week, and then you get up in the morning and then (you deal with) the planes and this and that, and it just doesn't seem worth it. (But) the second you get up on stage and you start telling jokes and people start laughing, it's worth it and you know why you came.”